Harry Potter and the Dark Lord Year 7
by Lady Syl
Summary: This story continues after HBP. It follows the trio as they embark on a quest to find the Horcruxes. When the horrific words of the prophecy are fulfilled, who will succeed in the final battle upon which rests the fate of the entire wizarding world?
1. Dark Thoughts in Dark Times

**Author's Note**: Since this story takes place following HBP, it obviously contains **spoilers** for all the previous books in the series, so it is probably not a good idea to read this if you have not finished the books yet. Otherwise, I'd be very glad to have you read this, and if you do, please take the time to **review**, as it is greatly appreciated. Just keep in mind that this is my first Harry Potter fanfic. Ever since I finished reading (and rereading) HBP, I've been dying to know what happened to Harry. Since we still have to wait for who knows how long, I've decided to write my own version year 7. So here goes…

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 1: Dark Thoughts in Dark Times **

It was a beautiful summer's day at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The sun's warm rays shimmered across the unbroken surface of the clear, blue lake. Students could be seen quietly conversing at various areas of the grounds surrounding the majestic castle. A gentle breeze stirred, ruffling their hair and lightly caressing their faces. The pleasant weather however, belied the tumult of dark thoughts storming a young bespectacled boy's mind. It related nothing of the terrible events that had occurred merely a few days earlier.

As he pondered the incidents of the past couple of days, Harry Potter felt a wave of incredulity wash over him. He recalled his descent into the dark cave with Professor Dumbledore as they sought to find one of the Horcruxes in which Voldemort had hidden a seventh of his soul. He had returned with Dumbledore, who was still weak from the journey, to find that Death Eaters had invaded the school. It was then that Snape, who he had now come to hate nearly as much as Voldemort, had betrayed them all and killed Dumbledore, the greatest wizard of all time. He felt a strong fury rise up in him, and realized that if he ever saw Snape again, he would kill him for what he'd done. This reckless anger scared him slightly, but he knew that the traitor deserved anything bad that happened to him.

He still could not believe that Dumbledore, one of his last remaining protectors and mentor, had left him all alone. Yet, he should not be surprised really, as there was a distinct pattern to what happened to anyone who cared about him and tried to help. They all ended up dead. It was now up to him to find the rest of the Horcruxes by himself, and if he was lucky, eventually defeat Voldemort. It would be no easy feat. Two of the Horcruxes had already been destroyed, so that meant four remained. He would have to seek these out and eliminate them before he could even attempt to go near Voldemort, and fulfill the prophecy that had been written before he had even been born.

He sighed and ran a hand through his tousled black hair, trying to forget these depressing thoughts for a moment. It seemed that he was no longer in control of anything, even his hair. No matter what he did, his hair always stuck up in every direction, as if he had just gotten off his broom on the Quidditch field. And yet, he found that he rather liked the fact that his hair looked this way, since all who had known his father James insisted that he looked very much like him. He could hardly remember his father though, as both his parents had been murdered by Voldemort when he was a very young child. This was only one of the many reasons Harry had for vowing revenge on Voldemort.

His train of thought was interrupted as one of his best mates, Hermione Granger, came running up the hill towards him. He looked up as she approached, glad for the distraction. "Harry", she said panting slightly and clutching her side, "you haven't even finished packing yet, and the train's going to be leaving really soon". With a jolt, he realized that he had been sitting there under the tree staring out at the lake for quite some time. "Ron and I have already finished, so we can help you if you like".

"All right, I'm coming", he replied reluctantly, as he stood up, making an effort to give her an appreciative smile. His limbs had become numb from sitting in one position for such a long period of time, and he stretched carefully to regain the feeling in his legs. She returned the smile, though he could see that hers was also somewhat forced. Together, they turned and headed up to the castle.

They walked across the grounds in silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Harry's mind wandered back to what he had been thinking of earlier, and to the enormous task he had to complete. He had no idea where to begin, or even where he would go after he left on the train. It was then that he came to the horrible realization that this might very well be the last time he ever saw his beloved school. In his six years of attending Hogwarts, it had become more of home to him than anywhere else he had been (apart from the Burrow). Perhaps this was the reason he had been avoiding packing his things. How could he live without Hogwarts? He, unlike most children, had dreaded summer vacation, always looking forward to the day when he would be back at school. But now, the thought of being there without Dumbledore was nearly unbearable. It just wasn't Hogwarts without him.

Harry looked up, and found that they had nearly reached the Gryffindor common room. He mumbled the password to the Fat Lady, and the portrait swung open, allowing them to enter. He was shocked at how empty it was. Many of the students had been whisked away by their parents immediately after Dumbledore's death. But by now, those who had stayed for the funeral were already waiting for the carriages that would take them to the train station. He turned to Hermione, "Don't worry, this won't take long. Just give me a few minutes, and I'll be right down." She nodded, and he hurried up to his dormitory to find Ron sitting on his bed waiting for him.

Ron looked up. "Hi, mate. I wanted to go get you earlier, but Hermione said we should just leave you alone for a while".

"It's okay, I packed most of it this morning anyway", Harry said as he moved around the room gathering up his various possessions and dumping them in his trunk in no particular order. Ron silently watched him pack, occasionally discovering a forgotten item that had been lying underneath the bed or on the table and tossing it to him. It seemed neither Ron nor Hermione really knew what to say to him. But he was fine with that at the moment; he didn't really feel much like talking anyway. He took a final glance around the room to make sure he hadn't missed anything, then stepped back and examined the disorderly pile. Oh well, he shrugged, at least everything's in there. "Let's go", he told Ron as he dragged the heavy trunk toward the door.

When Hermione heard Harry's voice at the top of the stairs, she yelled up, "Oh, thank goodness you've finished". Seeing that he was unsuccessfully trying to pull the trunk down the stairs, she reminded him, "You don't have to bring that down by yourself, you know". She looked a bit disgruntled at this, "The house elves will take it to the train for you".

At her words, he dropped the trunk, and made his way unimpeded down the stairs. How could he have forgotten that? It was the same every year. But then again, he did have an awful lot on his mind lately. The trio made their way to the portrait hole. Before stepping out, Harry turned to have one last look at the common room, almost as though he were trying to memorize the way it looked, in case he would have to rely solely on that memory. As he turned away, he met Hermione's eye, and he could tell by the sad look on her face that she suspected what he'd been doing.

They walked slowly down the lonely hallway. Surprisingly, the usually bustling corridors were practically deserted. It seemed everyone else was already outside. Then, as they turned a corner, they found Professor McGonagall moving quickly toward them. "What are you three still doing here?" she demanded, "The train is going to be leaving shortly. If you don't want to spend the rest of your summer here, you had best get there quickly".

Although Harry thought he would in fact like to do so, he muttered a "Yes, Professor", and the three of them continued towards the main door at a quicker pace. They soon reached the area where the large, thestral-drawn carriages awaited them. As he glanced at the creatures tied to them, he was reminded of the terrible reason he could see them in the first place. Now he thought morbidly, he could add another name to the list of deaths he had witnessed. Although they saw a few younger students here, none of which they knew by name, they were among the last to board, and the carriages began to move shortly. This is it, Harry thought, as the rickety carriage pulled them down the dirt road, farther and farther away from his home of six years.


	2. Hogwarts Express

**Chapter 2: Hogwarts Express**

Harry looked around at his friends as they sat together in the rumbling train compartment. Ron was digging through a box of _Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans_ which he'd just purchased on the trolley, as he enthusiastically recounted some of the "spectacular" saves he'd made as the Gryffindor Quidditch Keeper to Neville, one of the only people somewhat willing to listen. Neville however, judging by the rather dazed look on his face, understood only a little of what Ron was saying, though he kept nodding just the same. Then, as Ron recalled a particularly tense part in the match, he gestured wildly, knocking over the box of sweets and scattering the beans all over the floor. He quickly grabbed the overturned box to prevent the rest from falling, and shoved it towards Neville. "Here, hold this for a minute". Harry could not help but smile as he watched Ron drop to the floor and crawl around scrambling to gather up the fallen beans.

As Ron was moving about on the ground, he bumped into Hermione, but she merely shushed him without even looking up. It seemed she was focusing too intently on what she was doing to find the time to scold him for causing such a disturbance. Ever since they sat down, she'd had her nose buried in a book entitled, Advanced Magical Defensive Techniques. She was frowning slightly and chewing her bottom lip as she concentrated on figuring out the latest spell. When Harry had asked her earlier why she was still studying on the first day of summer vacation, she merely shrugged. "It might come in useful". Apparently, she thought she was still coming with him to find the Horcruxes. She and Ron were both being so stubborn. Couldn't they see that he didn't want to put them in even more danger? Every time he'd tried to bring it up, she interrupted him, saying firmly, "We're coming with you, Harry. That's all there is to it."

Although he never really intended to allow them to come with him, he kept quiet about it for the time being. At least they weren't treating him like Ginny was. During their most recent meeting in the train's corridor, she and Hermione had struck up a small conversation. Although Ginny had greeted him with a "Hi, Harry", as usual, she clearly avoided meeting his eye, which left him standing there awkwardly. Why didn't she understand that telling her that he didn't want to be with her was one of the most painful things he'd ever had to do? He couldn't bear to have another one of the people he cared for die because of him. Because in the end, it all boiled down to one thing: Voldemort. He was the one who had caused all this grief and heartache. Only after he was gone could Harry really be happy again.

Every moment, the train brought them closer to their destination. Although Harry knew what it was he had to do, he was no closer to understanding how to do it. Undeniably, having Ron and Hermione with him would make the job loads easier. But would he ever be able to forgive himself if something happened to them? He immediately answered the question in his mind. Even if he did succeed, it wouldn't be worth living without them. They were all he had left. And so, Harry came to the grim resolution that he would have to complete the task alone. They would never let him leave by himself though, so how was he going to get away without them noticing? Perhaps he could head to the Dursleys first and leave from there. But just then, he remembered his promise to attend Bill and Fleur's wedding. That meant he would have to pay a visit to the Burrow first. It might be best if he went home with Ron now, and then worked out where to go from there. He wasn't quite ready to say goodbye yet anyhow. However, it was going to be difficult, to say the least, residing in the same house with Ginny, given what had happened between them.

"You've been awfully quiet, Harry". Neville's quiet voice broke into his thoughts. Undoubtedly, he was attempting to change the subject before Ron, who had just finished collecting the beans from underneath the seats, went back to bombarding him with information about his Quidditch career.

"I've just been thinking over a few things", Harry explained. At this, he saw Ron and Hermione exchange a pointed look. Was it possible they knew what he was planning to do? Even though he had never mentioned sneaking out before, he had a feeling they suspected what he was up to. After all, Hermione wasn't the cleverest witch of her age for nothing. Well then, he would just have to be more careful. He couldn't risk any delays.

"Hey, Harry", Ron began hesitantly, "you're coming home with me right? Because I've already told my mum you were, and everyone's expecting you to be there".

"Sure", Harry replied," I couldn't miss the wedding".

Ron visible relaxed at his words, and shot a sidelong glance at Hermione. He continued, this time addressing Neville. "Don't forget that you're invited to the wedding too. Mum's already sent your Gram an invitation". Neville thanked him, promising to try and remember. He was still having trouble with his memory, especially since he'd lost his Rememberall.

Just then, Hermione turned to Harry, and asked him the very question he'd been avoiding. "Where are you planning to go after the wedding?"

Harry tried to act casual. "Oh, well I suppose I'll be going back to the Dursleys first". He didn't want to give too much away, particularly since Neville was present. Although he had been a member of the DA, Neville had no idea about the Horcruxes or the content of the prophecy which had come so close to being about him. But Hermione knew all that, so why was she asking him in front of Neville in the first place?

Suddenly, loud gagging sounds made them all turn towards Ron, who was now spitting into a napkin. "Yuck", he said looking absolutely revolted, "That was bloody disgusting. I'm never eating these things again". He gestured to towards the box of _Every Flavor Beans_. "I don't even want to guess what that was supposed to be. But I'd say there's a pretty good chance it was vomit."

Hermione shuddered, giving Ron a nauseated look. Harry and Neville on the other hand, burst out laughing. At first, Hermione looked at them disapprovingly, whilst Ron looked offended. But soon, the two of them couldn't help but laugh along with them. What a relief it was to finally ease the tension of the past few days! They soon fell quiet again, as they realized that the train was beginning to slow down. "Oh, we're nearly at the station", Hermione declared as she stood up. "We'd better collect our things". The train came to a halt, and the four of them exited the compartment, entering the now busy corridor. After a group of younger students moved aside (with some prodding from Ron), the way to the platform was clear. The trio said goodbye to Neville at the bottom of the steps, then proceeded through the barrier. They reentered the Muggle world and walked straight into Mrs.Weasley's outstretched arms.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Thank you for the reviews! If you read this please don't forget to review. They are one of the things that encourage me to keep writing. 


End file.
